The so called "Battle of the Basement" took place last night in front of a sparse crowd at the First Niagara Center and I'm pretty sure that most Sabres fans would agree that this just might have been the lowest point of the last two seasons.
The game itself pitted two teams at the bottom of the standings playing out the string with a roster devoid of major talent (save for a couple of players.) Oft times it looked as if we were witnessing a pickup game and though individual players showed sparks of intensity, or in the case of Buffalo's Tyler Ennis and Arizona's Oliver Ekman-Larsson a high level of natural skill, the game had very few redeeming qualities.
Nothing against the players as they were on the ice giving it what they had. The Sabres Patrick Kaleta came back from injury and was as annoying to the opposition as ever. Buffalo captain Brian Gionta buried an inexcusable turnover by his Arizona counterpart, Shane Doan, with under four minutes in the third period to tie the score. Sabres goalie Matt Hackett endured a shoulder injury but would end up toughing it out. Ennis went into the boards late in the second period and never returned for the third.
It was a somewhat typical hockey game that featured shots, scoring, hits and injuries.
The real intrigue, however, was up in the stands as the forces of "Tank-nation," many decked out in their Buffalo Sabres regalia with some merely two rows up from the ice, showered the visiting team with cheers every time the 'Yotes scored while saving their loudest cheers for Arizona's Sam Gagner after he won the game in overtime.
To anyone outside of the little brains that caused those fans to act like that, it was a farce on a grand scale, one which caused Sabres d-man Mike Weber to reign in a volcano of emotion as he tried to vocalize his frustration. "I've always spoken highly of our fans," he said from the Sabres locker room post-game. "I don't even know if disappointment's the right word. They score that first one and [the fans] are cheering. Late penalty, they cheer and they cheer when [Arizona] scores to win the game.
"I don't even know what to say. It's extremely frustrating for us. We don't want to be here. We understand where we are, we understand what this team's doing, what the organization's doing and the place we've put ourselves in.
"But I've never been a part of something like that where the away team comes into a home building and [the fans] are cheering for them."
Any player or coach with an ounce of dignity in his bones curdles at the thought of being in last place and the mere thought of tanking is in direct contrast to a competitive spirit that has driven (most) athletes to the highest level in their professions. Less than 800 players are in the NHL in any give year out of the millions that play the game.
For fans, though, it's a different story altogether. Nearly every Sabres' fan has had their "eyes on the prize" all season as what awaits the last place team at this year's draft represents an opportunity too good to pass up. The Sabres were destined to be near the bottom of the league from the get-go and in a weird twist that breaks all the rules of competition, failure to secure last place would be an epic failure. Last night there was a multitude of tank-zealots on hand to hammer that opinion home.
At the other end of the spectrum, some fans will argue that teams and players should win at all costs and that "the integrity of the game" is paramount. But the majority of Sabres fans at this point in time will tell you that for this season, it's in the long-term interest of the franchise to finish at the bottom of the league and that a late-season run to 27th place borders on insanity. It's a group that rode the wave of good feelings when the team got hot in November/December, but as the losses mounted thereafter it was getting to the point of no return and the overriding sentiment was that of, "finish the job."
As is usually the case with most anything that divides, the extremes at both ends of the spectrum are dwarfed by large group in the middle. But regardless of where one is on the scale, this whole internal struggle we've gone through this season is something that has tapped into our core being and ever so slightly affected us.
The Arizona victory last night gave the season and the struggle a sense of finality despite there being eight more games to play. But within that finality there was also a sadness as last night a tiny piece of me seemed to be taken away. Although it's not anything close to the affect of political, racial or religious struggles and the moral fabric entwined, this whole season will have affected many of us ever so slightly.
Most will be forgotten, though, as time lessens the mild pangs and dulls the memories especially as the Buffalo Sabres focus upon the "build" portion of the re-build beginning next month. These last eight games of the 2014-15 season will represent the final chapter in this bottoming-out process and a new book will begin to be written on April 18th when the lottery takes place.
Will it end up being worth it?
That's up to the individual. But for a Sabres' fan who's never been through this in the 45 years of the franchises' existence, it's something I'd rather not go through again.
No comments:
Post a Comment